Former Malton firefighter Pete Woolley speaks out over his fears for public safety regarding North Yorkshires Fire Cover Review. Pete was part of the crew who took part in the failed ‘midi’ fire engine trial in 2009 and discusses how the current TRV reduced size fire engine plan will be dangerous to both fire-fighters and the public they serve.

How will the North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Fire Cover Review impact on the safety of the public and fire-fighters of North Yorkshire?
Do not be misled by the content of the review, that only 6 fire stations, Harrogate, Scarborough, Tadcaster, Ripon, Malton and Northallerton will be down-graded. The impact of any decision by the NY Fire Authority on Wednesday 9th December 2015 will impact on a wider spectrum of the North Yorkshire public.
If your local fire engine is not directly affected by these cuts keep in mind when a large fire or multi vehicle car crash occurs in your area it takes more than 1 fire engine to deal with it. How far away are your second and third fire engines? How quickly can they respond?

Watch Harrogate resident Lucy Morgan explain why this delay is unacceptable in the youtube clip below, in 2014 Lucy was involved in a serious fire, in 2015 her brother was rescued by fire-fighters from a car crash.

Fire-engines that would normally be mobilised within 1 to 2 minutes during the day, will be delayed by anything from 5 to 9 minutes if the Mixed Crewing proposal is introduced. How much longer can you wait for the First, Second or Third fire engine to arrive. Do you want one of these fire engines replaced with 2 firefighters in a van? (TRV-Tactical response vehicle)
Due to the current problems around the recruitment and retention of part-time fire-fighters in North Yorkshire, the service has already had to expand on its catchment area for part-time fire-fighters. This has led to delays of up to 9 minutes before these Fire-engines are mobilised to incidents.
North Yorkshire Fire Service currently has between 9 and 13 fire engines unavailable to respond to emergency calls on a daily basis. To cover these shortfalls, full time staff are used to help make these fire engines available. This will seriously be affected by any reduction in full time staff.
Please follow the link below and fill in the public consultation, oppose Tactical Response Vehicles (TRV – 2 Firefighter in a van) Oppose ‘mixed crewing’ which will lead to delays of up to 9 minutes.

Help us hold the decision makers to account, Join our rally and protest of the Fire Authority public meeting on the 9th of December